Alaina Jones' "Think Of The Children"

Alaina Jones. Think Of The Children. Acrylic and Newspaper on Canvas. 9"x 12"

Alaina Jones addresses her concerns for America's youth in "Think Of The Children":

The piece depicts a photograph of an American child, presumably age three, wearing a lifejacket. She is in the process of putting her hand next to her heart, and her stern facial expression suggests that she is undergoing a personally important process. Accounts of deviance in past and present US society are behind her, although she can not see them. These actions of deviance range from heinous doings such as murder and theft, to revolutionary sensations, including movements towards a more egalitarian America. Her lifejacket suggests the American parent's tendency to shield their children, protect them if you will, from all considered publicly deviant. Acts of abnormality are categorized as evil by the previous generations, and although some of these acts are justly classified, others are not. The piece brings into question the blur between modernity and evil, for many acts of deviance from America's history have played an essential role in the moral advancements of America today. Although this does not depict America in its entirety, several modern generations can identify as growing up in a world where their parents did not support their thoughts, prerogatives, and actions towards improving American culture, because they were deviant from the norm. These parents, in attempts to "save" their children, make an effort to shield them from these activities. Although, in a culture which was founded on and is practically engulfed in acts of defiance and deviance, the children cannot be saved.